A favorite quote of mine is from Noam Chomsky, "The responsibility of the intellectual is to tell the truth and expose lies." Because only choosy mothers choose JFW, my presumption is that if you are reading this, you are some sort of intellectual. So, here: I have now been told by two different people that they have heard it said about me, "Jeremy would never leave the Midwest." One might think this proposition would be sufficiently contradicted by my not living in the Midwest now, but apparently two years is not enough to contradict "never" in some minds. Anyway, not that I have any reason to expect this will happen to you, but should you happen to be in a conversation in which someone says "Jeremy would never leave the Midwest," I would appreciate it if you could fulfill your responsibility as an intellectual by speaking truth to falsity and saying, "Yes, Jeremy would." Do not add "Especially if you double dare him," because I am impervious to double-dare manipulation techniques and thus you would be lying yourself.
(Not that I'm looking to leave the Midwest, mind you--especially since I am not, you know, actually in the Midwest--but I do not like the fact that I adore the Midwest being mistaken for the idea that I'm shackled to cornstalks forever.)
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5 comments:
OK, fine, I will speak truth to falsity if I ever hear anyone say that you will never leave the Midwest.
But, I think it's fair to say that you would never live in New York City, right?
I hope so because I've been spreading that story around town for some time now.
Tonya! I would so live in New York City. Indeed, it would help immensely toward my goal of living in all the cities where you've lived.
I have been spreading the word that it would be nice to have Jeremy here in NYC, regardless of his own will--which I think is only relevant when there indeed exists a counterfactual that he moves to NYC.
What if I double dog dare you?
Why, then I'd have to. Who can resist double-dog-dare technologies?
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